France works till July 26 for State

THE average employee in France works up until July 26 to finance government spending, according to accountants Ernst & Young.

Their annual study converts the rate of taxation and social charges on a person’s salary, plus the average VAT they are likely to pay, into the number of days they need to work to pay it – essentially how many days they work to support the government.

France is calculated to take 56.6% of mandatory forms of charges and taxation on a salary, so workers’ “liberation day” (as it is termed by the group) is tomorrow.

It is second only to Belgium in the 27 countries compared in the study.

Top – or bottom - of the pile is Cyprus, where employees work until March 14 for their government, although the island is still reeling from the effects of the major financial crisis earlier this year when it had to close its banks.

While the study, which was carried out with the Molinari Institute, found the level of pay in France was one of the highest in Europe (an average €53,647), it claimed roughly €30,371 disappeared in taxes and charges.

“France is the only country in Europe in such a situation,” said a researcher at the Molinari Insitute, whose report said that no other country had such a high level of spending and unbalanced budgets.

The report concludes that the situation for French workers is likely to be even worse next year as the government seeks to balance its books.

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